1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to waste stream purification, and more particularly relates to purification of waste streams containing contaminants typically found in oilfield applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water is often used for various tasks in the oil and gas industry. For example, water may be injected into a well to repressurize a reservoir, and water may be pumped from a well in the process of extracting oil or gas. As another example, water may used to deliver proppants to underground fractures. Due to environmental concerns, contaminated water cannot simply dumped on the ground or pumped back into wells. The requirement to treat contaminated water sources presents an additional operation and expense for oil and gas well owners and operators.
Treating waste water typically involves one or more unit operations, such as distillation or filtration. Distillation is an energy-intensive process that frequently requires large distillation columns. Filtration may require frequent filter changes to keep the system operating at the desired contaminant removal levels. The oil or gas producer must have personnel on hand to operate the waste water treatment unit operations, and must have the required energy and materials available to process the produced waste water. All of these constraints cost money and increase the cost of oil and gas production.